Security
Port
A Security Port Blog
Data
Security Thesis |
06/02/2007 | |
I buy a lot of used hard drives on eBay.
Originally, I bought these drives to demonstrate that
people throw away or sell computer equipment without
much regard for the so-called residue data. About
one-third of the hard drives that I bought had
confidential information on them, one-third of the
drives had been properly wiped, and one-third were
broken. I published and made a big splash with my
findings. The research was even part of my PhD
thesis.
Data Security Thesis
|
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Biometrics are the rage today. You can use
your fingerprints to secure your data, to enter your
home and, of course, to access your computer. There are
fingerprint readers on mice, keyboards and you can buy
them as stand-alone devices too.
But fingerprint
scanners are just not in anymore. The trend is pointing
towards iris or retinal scanners.
|
Banking on Biometrics |
05/31/2007 | |
Pictet Bank, one of the largest Swiss
banks, is using biometrics to identify its customers to
give more security. |
Respect Copyrights and Use Royalty
Free Images |
05/30/2007 | |
Many webmasters do not realize that
photographs are copy written and in many cases illegal
to use a photograph or image that you find on the web
without properly licensing it.
Most webmasters
do not have time to go out and photograph all of the
subjects they wish to include in a website. Webmasters
are best off using royalty free photographs. Royalty
free photographs are generally purchased and there is no
recurring fee for the use of the photograph. The
purchaser may use the image(s) as often as required
within the license terms and conditions without paying
for the use of the image each time the image is used.
Fortunately there are a number of stock photography
websites where webmasters can purchase a single
photograph for a fixed fee, or they can purchase a stock
photo subscription, that allows for the subscriber to
download multiple photographs.
Respect Copyrights and Use Royalty Free
Images |
Monitor Government Websites and
Announcements Using RSS |
05/30/2007 | |
Stay current on security issues reported
from government agencies using RSS feeds. Government Central makes it
easy to locate RSS feeds from a variety of government
agencies. |
UK
Burglary Hot Spots |
05/30/2007 | |
People living in some UK cities face
almost double the chance of being burgled as those in
more secure areas, according to a new
report.
Researchers from insurer Endsleigh found
that residents in Nottingham are almost twice as likely
to make a claim than an average household.
Leeds
and Hull were also found to be among other cities where
the risk of being burgled is above average.
|
Google Might Be Breaking Privacy
Laws |
05/29/2007 | |
Google has been told that it may be
breaking European privacy laws by keeping people's
search information on its servers for up to two years.
|
Adware Maker Sues Anti-Spyware
Company |
05/27/2007 | |
Adware maker Zango is fed up with having
their "software" removed from people's computers by PC
Tools (see Story) without notification.
For
those not familiar with Zango, they are the folks that
were mixed up with the Myspace worm, allow for the
redirection of affiliate traffic, and recently settled
with the FTC for $3 million dollars for deceptive adware
practices and obstructing the ability to
uninstall.
Adware Makers Sues Anti-Spyware
|
Hackers Hack Asian Security
Site |
05/26/2007 | |
Chinese hackers have defaced the website
of a police-run security company that is leading a new
effort to strengthen the Communist government's control
over the internet. |
China Arrested AIDS Activist |
05/25/2007 | |
China barred a prominent AIDS and
environmental activist and his wife from leaving the
country last Friday, put them under house arrest and
accused them of endangering national security, the pair
said.
endangering national security
|
Russia A Threat to Cyber
Security? |
05/25/2007 | |
Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo
said that the cyberattacks were a threat to national
security, and that it was possible the Russian
government was behind them. |
Intelligent Network Security |
05/24/2007 | |
Juniper Networks has introduced new
security software, including a new version of Netscreen
OS, and is now emphasizing the need for network security
to distinguish corporate applications
|
Internet Censorship on the
Rise |
05/23/2007 | |
Internet censorship is growing worldwide,
with 26 out of 40 countries blocking or filtering
political or social content, a study reported Friday.
The survey carried out by experts at four
leading universities found that people in Asia, the
Middle East and North Africa were often denied access to
information about politics, sexuality, culture or
religion. |
Home
Security Measures |
05/22/2007 | |
Anyone is susceptible to robbery, home
invasion, or assault. Criminals often survey their
target before entering and taking a few precautions will
make your home and those who dwell there less likely to
be victimized. Those who have experienced someone coming
into their home will often report the feeling of being
violated. More than the items lost or destruction of
property, the concern for the lives and well-being of
those in the home are the foremost concerns. It can
effect daily activities, comfort and self-assurance.
There is generally enough concerns in life that take
worry, that your home security should not have to be one
on them.
Home Security Measures
|
Teacher with Porn |
05/21/2007 | |
The sentencing of Julie Amero, the
Connecticut substitute teacher convicted of exposing
seventh-grade students to pornographic images - pictures
that she and a number of security experts contend were
spyware-produced - was postponed until June 6.
|
Hackers Prey on Pirates |
05/19/2007 | |
IT security and control firm Sophos is
warning businesses of the security and productivity
risks of allowing counterfeit software programs to run
on their company networks. The warning follows research
from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) that revealed
that more than a third of PCs worldwide are running
pirated software.
|
History of Spyware |
05/18/2007 | |
The term spyware denotes a class of
computer programs that:
1. Install without
permission (or on the basis of misleading info) 2.
Maintain a presence on your PC on terms you never agreed
to 3. Interface with a human (or machine) you have
not requested a relationship with 4. Transmit data
using a system you have no control over 5. Typically
do not come with uninstall routines
history of
spyware
|
Royalty Free Photos So Copyrights are
Not Violated |
05/15/2007 | |
Professional photographs in a website give
the website a professional look. Many webmasters do not
realize that photographs are copy written and in many
cases illegal to use a photograph or image that you find
on the web without properly licensing it.
Most
webmasters do not have time to go out and photograph all
of the subjects they wish to include in a website.
Webmasters are best off using royalty free photographs.
Royalty free photographs are generally purchased and
there is no recurring fee for the use of the photograph.
The purchaser may use the image(s) as often as required
within the license terms and conditions without paying
for the use of the image each time the image is used.
Fortunately there are a number of stock photography
websites where webmasters can purchase a single
photograph for a fixed fee, or they can purchase a stock
photo subscription, that allows for the subscriber to
download multiple photographs.
Photo
Wizard Photo Wizard is a subscription stock photo
website. Webmasters or publishers subscribe to the site
and can download as many images as they would like.
There are no recurring fees or royalties for using the
photographs on Photo Wizard. On Photo Wizard,
subscribers can navigate through the photographs by
navigating the directories categories. The Photo Wizard
website also has a search function that allows
subscribers to use keywords to locate photographs of
specific places or things. Visitors can purchase a
single photo or they can purchase a subscription
allowing them to download an unlimited number of
photographs for X amount of time. Subscribers can also
subscribe to an RSS feed so they are notified when new
photographs are posted and available for download.
http://www.photo-wizard.net/
|
Security Waste |
05/15/2007 | |
Three years after the state shelled out
$28,000 in federal homeland security money to buy seven
metal detectors and package screeners to improve
security at the Capitol, the equipment remains in
storage.
The Bureau of Capitol Security lacks
staff to operate the machines, which have never been
used. |
Microsoft Asks Black Hats for
Help |
05/14/2007 | |
Microsoft hosted members of the hacking
and research communities this week for its biannual
BlueHat security conference, where the company looks for
guidance about the threats that will be coming at them.
What did we learn? asked a spokesman for the
Microsoft Security Response Center team in a blog.
...That Microsoft cannot solve the security problem, but
we can raise the bar substantially to the point where
finding bugs in Microsoft products is hard, and building
reliable exploits even harder. |
Gambling Prosecution |
05/14/2007 | |
A grand jury in Salt Lake City, Utah, has
charged seven people and four companies with multiple
felonies related to processing credit cards for gambling
Web sites. |
Identity Theft Indictment |
05/15/2005 | |
An Ohio man faces 54 charges after being
indicted for allegedly using stolen identities to open
at least 35 online brokerage accounts in an attempt to
bilk the companies of $3,348,000.
Matthew S.
Kichinka, 25, of Strongsville, Ohio, was charged with 50
counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity
theft, two counts of bankruptcy fraud, and one count of
transmitting interstate communications containing
threats to kill or injure another person.
|
Pirate Appeals |
05/10/2007 | |
The first person worldwide to be convicted
of distributing movies over the popular online
BitTorrent network appeared in Hong Kongs highest court
Wednesday to appeal his jail sentence.
|
Security Feeds |
05/09/2007 | |
Great directory of security feeds and alerts. Search for
any type of security related issues, events or concerns,
and locate a relevant feed. The RSS feed will allow you
to monitor information on that specific topic.
|
Software Piracy Top 10 |
05/08/2007 | |
China and Russia were two of 10 countries
placed on the organisation's priority watch list of
countries that do not provide an adequate level of
intellectual property rights protection or enforcement,
or market access for persons relying on intellectual
property protection.
Other countries on the
priority list were Argentina, Chile, Egypt, India,
Israel, Lebanon, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and
Venezuela. |
Secret Service |
05/07/2007 | |
Barack Obama is the first candidate to ask
for and receive the protection from the Secret Service,
now under the umbrella of the Dept. of Homeland Security
|
Texas Allows Social Security Number
Be Posted |
05/07/2007 | |
It seems as though Governor Perry has
signed into law a bill that allows county and court
clerks to disclose Social Security numbers contained in
documents held by their offices as long as it is done in
the "ordinary course of business." This means that your
Social Security number can now be posted online as part
of public documents such as mortgage records and tax
liens. |
Credit Cards for a Dollar |
05/04/2007 | |
Hackers are selling fake US-based credit
cards on the Internet for as little as one dollar, and a
full set of data for a fake identity for as low as 14
dollars, a study by a Web security firm said.
|
Linux Security Applications |
05/03/2007 | |
Even though we know that Linux is quite
secure by default installation of nearly any
distribution, if you want to be sure that it is secure
enough there are applications and services available
that will make your computer/system more secure and
manageable.
Linux Security Applications
|
Google Needs to Police
Advertisers |
05/02/2007 | |
Google could avoid future malware attacks
carried out using advertisements posted on its Web sites
if the company more thoroughly investigated customers of
its AdWords system, according to security and legal
experts.
On April 25, researchers with security
software maker Exploit Prevention Labs announced that
they had uncovered hard evidence that malware
distributors were using advertisements placed via
Google's automated AdWords system to infect unsuspecting
end-users with virus code. |
Tips
for Spying On Your Competition |
05/01/2007 | |
The old adage, "keep your friends close,
and your enemies closer", is applicable not only to
personal relationships but business relationships as
well. While I'm not suggesting that you befriend your
competitors, it is important that you are cognizant of
your competitors' business ventures and methods.
It is important to realize that while monitoring
your competitors is essential, it could easily become an
obsession. Therefore, it is crucial that you strike a
balance when incorporating it into your business plan.
There are several ways to conduct successful stealth
competitive intelligence operations. While it is
fanciful to imagine yourself as a secret agent or spy,
none of these techniques are difficult, hidden or
secretive. In fact, most of them are tools or services
available to all businesses. Tips for Spying on Your Competition
|
Egypt Blogger Offline |
04/30/2007 | |
One of Egypts most prominent political
bloggers has decided to call it a day, citing harassment
by security services as his main reason to quit.
|
IRS
Warns of Internet Scam |
04/30/2007 | |
Be careful, the IRS is warning taxpayers
about an Internet scam that sends out fake emails. They
direct people to a web link that requests personal and
financial information, such as social security, bank
account, and credit card numbers.
|
China Threatens US |
04/29/2007 | |
U.S. complaints to the WTO over commercial
piracy in China will "badly damage" cooperation, Vice
Premier Wu Yi warned on Tuesday, insisting that China
has made great strides in protecting patents and
copyrights. |
Teens Concerned About Security |
04/27/2007 | |
Turns out it isn't just parents,
politicians, and lawyers worrying about teen safety
online. The majority of teens themselves actively manage
their online profiles to keep the information they
believe is most sensitive away from the unwanted gaze of
strangers, parents and other adults.
complete article
|
Top
10 Internet Crimes |
04/26/2007 | |
The IC3 (Internet Crime Complaint Center),
a partnership betweeen the FBI and the NW3C (National
White Collar Crime Center) issued a report for the year
2006. It's brimming with interesting statistics,
including the Top 10 IC3 Complaint
Categories:
Category
|
% of
complaints
|
Auction Fraud
|
44.9%
|
Non-Delivery
|
19%
|
Check Fraud
|
4.9%
|
Credit/Debit Card
Fraud
|
4.8%
|
Computer Fraud
|
2.8%
|
Confidence
Fraud
|
2.2%
|
Financial
Instiitutions Fraud
|
1.6%
|
Identity Theft
|
1.6%
|
Investment
Fraud
|
1.3%
|
Child
Pornography
|
1.0%
|
|
Yahoo Sued For Helping Chinese
Authorities |
04/25/2007 | |
The wife of a Yahoo user jailed in China
for promoting democracy online is suing the Internet
search engine company for helping Chinese officials
track him down and convict him. |
US
Editor Charged with Sex Crimes |
04/25/2007 | |
A former editor at the entertainment
magazine Us Weekly was sentenced on Friday to six years
in prison for attempting to seduce an undercover FBI
agent posing as a minor on the Internet.
|
What
Can Colleges Due to Keep Students Safe |
04/24/2007 | |
Campus wide text messaging systems
that notify students and staff of lock downs or campus
emergencies. The technology is there, and there is
really no excuse for colleges and universities to not
implement a messaging system, so that they can instantly
text all students and faculty with the single click of a
mouse. PageGate has been around since 1996,
why are campuses not using it? |
Privacy Advocates Attempt to Block
DoubleClick Deal |
04/23/2007 | |
Consumer privacy groups on Friday sought
to derail Google Inc.'s $3.1 billion deal to buy online
ad supplier DoubleClick Inc., filing a complaint with
U.S. regulators to block the merger on privacy grounds.
|
Feds
Leak Social Security Numbers |
04/23/2007 | |
The Social Security numbers of 63,000
people who received Agriculture Department grants have
been posted on a government Web site since 1996, but
they were taken down last week. Free credit monitoring
is being offered to those affected.
|
Children are Not Cattle |
04/20/2007 | |
California's state Senate has struck a
major blow against the enemies of mankind in the
inevitable war against The Machines.
Legislation
approved Monday would prohibit public schools from
requiring the implementation of radio-wave devices that
broadcast students' personal identification and monitor
their movement around campus — information the
mechanical horrors could theoretically use to turn our
children into livestock.
complete article
|
Child Porn on the Rise |
04/19/2007 | |
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has
reported a fourfold rise in online images depicting the
most severe form of child sexual abuse.
The IWF 2006 Annual Report (PDF)
warns of a growing demand for more severe images, and
claims that nearly 60 per cent of commercial child abuse
websites sell images of child rape.
complete article
|
Security Phones |
04/18/2007 | |
Cell phones have long served as the mother
of all convergence devices, swallowing our PDAs, digital
cameras, MP3 players and more. Now phones are becoming
the terminal of choice for monitoring home security.
When a perp breaks into your house, your security system
calls your phone, and shows you the live video.
|
Communication Software for Emergency
Personnel |
04/17/2007 | |
Take a look at how emergency services are
using text messaging to overcome
communication issues.
EMS Communications: PageGate is a
modular paging gateway that allows for messaging to
encompass a number of different aspects in Police or
Fire Departments. Messages can be sent from workstations
on a network, via web pages or e-mail accounts. This
software is modular and can be scaled to meet the size
of a Department. PageGate can also be integrated with
existing applications to add messaging or paging
functionality to existing dispatching applications.
|
MS
Word Defects are a Feature |
04/16/2007 | |
Security vulnerabilities which cause
Word 2007 to crash and burn are being defended by
Microsoft:Word 2007 was designed to crash when it runs
out of ideas as far as opening up malformed documents,
so that it doesn't have to think as hard.The 'flaw' was
caused by-design behaviour that improves security and
stability. |
Student Hacked School Computers - It
Was Easy |
04/16/2007 | |
A Mauldin High student has been charged
with violating the state Computer Crime Act, after
telling police he accessed personal data in the
Greenville County school district's computer network to
show the district how easy it is to do, according to a
warrant and incident report.
Robert Charles Sipes, 17, of
Simpsonville told police he had warned the district
months before that its system wasn't secure, according
to a Mauldin police report.
Ten
days earlier, a district official told police that two
students at J.L. Mann High had hacked into the
district's secure computer network, according to a
Greenville police report. |
Discipline for Spyware |
04/15/2007 | |
The Federal Trade Commission told Congress
yesterday that it needs more authority to issue civil
penalties, and it outlined a strategy to put more
spyware purveyors in jail. But the agency doesn't bring
many actions itself: only eight spammers were targeted
last year, and 11 spyware operators in the the last two
years. |
Security Logos |
04/14/2007 | |
Collection of security logos for security websites.
Not a bad collection. |
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